After 16 seasons, 671 games, 101 goals and four Champions Leagues, walking in a teenager and walking out a legend, a comic book captain who embodied the club like no one else, Sergio Ramos’s farewell wasn’t the way he had planned. Not least because he hadn’t planned to depart at all.

Almost the first thing he said as he took his seat in the press room at Valdebebas for the last time on Thursday was: “I would like to say that I never wanted to leave Real Madrid. I always wanted to stay here.” A brief event had already taken place: a couple of short speeches, a few forced smiles and some applause in front of maybe 20 people. But now the room was virtually empty: just Ramos, Emilio Butragueño, the press officer, Carlos Carbajosa, a cameraman and a TV with a Zoom screen on it. Florentino Pérez, the president, wasn’t there. “It might have been good for him to be,” Ramos said, a little pointedly. “He’ll have the opportunity to speak if you have more questions.”

It is not an opportunity Pérez is likely to take up publicly, and one question lingers above all: how did it come to this? In terms of the basic mechanics Ramos answered that, effectively admitting that this time he had misplayed his hand during contract negotiations with the club, not realising as much until it was too late. If there was a phrase that recurred it was “fecha de caducidad”: a best before date. There was a deadline and Ramos and his brother and agent, René, missed it, or never believed it would really matter – not for a player of his status. In different circumstances, it might not have done.

According to Ramos, who had said in 2019 that he wanted to retire at Real and would “play for free”, this wasn’t about money; it was about the length of the contract. The club offered him a one-year deal on his existing salary, minus 10% because of the coronavirus crisis. He wanted two, for stability’s sake. Rejecting that “wasn’t a definitive no”, rather “part of the negotiations”. He also admitted to telling Real to get on and “plan without me”. That wasn’t a declaration of departure either, he insisted; it was a way of saying that “no one is more important than the club.” Not even him.

In the meantime, Real signed David Alaba. Interest in Ramos from other clubs appeared in the media. Details filtered out, but inside nothing much was happening, silent but for the sound of the clock ticking. There was no second offer for Ramos who because of injury barely played in 2021 and was ultimately left out of the Spain squad for Euro 2020, his hand not exactly strengthened. There was no improved offer and barely any communication, just mutual distrust. When he finally went back to Real to say, OK, he would accept a single year, the offer had been withdrawn.Advertisementhttps://02793b787696be977ca8665b6bdbbd63.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

It could have been put back again had they wanted to, which Ramos suspected they never had, but the response was cold. “It’s not on the table any more, and that’s it,” he said. Onda Cero radio had reported a March deadline but Ramos claimed: “No one told me there was a fecha de caducidad. I thought it was part of a negotiation like many others. I don’t know why there’s a fecha de caducidad without notifying me. Maybe I misunderstood but I didn’t know. I was surprised. They told me there is no longer an offer. They said: it’s over.”

And so it was, after 16 seasons. It felt sudden but it had been coming, and not just all spring. In 2015, Ramos told Pérez he wanted to leave for Manchester United but Iker Casillas had just gone in traumatic fashion and the president wouldn’t release him too. If Ramos left, Pérez said, he would be compelled to follow him. When it came to it, Ramos lacked the nerve to force it through. That proved a good thing: now the captain, he lifted the Champions League for the next three years in a row. But in 2019 Ramos ask Pérez to let him leave for China on a free. The president publicly said he couldn’t do that, invited any suitors to offer a fee and eventually handed Ramos another extension.

It wouldn’t happen again. This time there was no way back – in part because of those times. Ramos talks about Pérez and himself as “father and son” and says: “In families there are arguments.” But the relationship had been strained, two men of status and power who were implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) a threat to each other, those struggles played out in public and via proxies in the press. Those episodes have not been forgotten when there are better moments to remember. “I will hold on to the last embrace [Pérez] gave me,” Ramos said, repeatedly insisting that he did not want any confrontation now.

There is a lot more to hold on to. Twenty-two trophies, for a start. Plus a World Cup and two European Championships. More Spain games than anyone else, at 180. And yet Ramos’s significance is not just about that; it’s about the symbolism, what he represents.

For more than a decade, that was Real Madrid – an idea he internalised himself – and it will not feel the same to see him anywhere else. He admitted, incidentally, that he has nowhere to go yet. “Values matter and the key value of this club is commitment, doing everything to win,” Zinedine Zidane once said, summing it up. “Ramos, our captain, epitomises that better than anyone. He has that commitment, he has nobility.”

At one point in his farewell, Ramos referred to the “Ramos brand”, to accepting everything that comes with him, the fact that he does everything “full on”. There was something almost Homer Simpson playing Max Power about that – a little silly – and yet it kind of fits, too. He is almost a cartoon figure. From the kid with the Claudio Caniggia fixation to this latest incarnation as a Viking, like some Norse god, there’s the taste for the absurd and the epic, driven by some sense of duty. Or better still, destiny. And no club seems attached to an idea of destiny like Real Madrid.

“People know me well because I have not created a role that I play; this is me,” Ramos has said, although it can feel like a role too. The grand gestures. The status. The self-consciousness, which is more playful and less serious than people think and yet also somehow very serious still, a figure built by the media as well as by himself. There was that Panenka penalty, redemption writ large. And yes, the shithousery too. He has more caps than anyone, and more red cards as well.https://www.theguardian.com/email/form/plaintone/the-fiverThe Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email.

There may be no one with his force of personality, his leadership, chest puffed out, that sense of performance, of responsibility as a very visible badge of honour. Few project the idea of going into battle quite like him, standing there in the ring before everyone. During lockdown, his was the voice you heard echoing round grounds, even when he wasn’t playing. Especially when he wasn’t playing. All of which underlines why the end felt so strange, so unlike him: a quiet, empty room. This time, he did not look so powerful, so imposing, as if this was his stage.

For so long it has been, somehow in control as if able to bend those big moments to his will, and purely by will. Ramos Time. Never more so than in Lisbon; that header with the clock at 92.48 in the 2014 Champions League final might just be the most significant single moment in Real history.

Ramos has a tattoo on his ribs. “I am the master of my own destiny,” it says. Not this time, he wasn’t, unable to get there before the final whistle blew.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the pace ahead of the Mercedes cars of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton in second practice at the French Grand Prix.

The Dutchman led Bottas by just 0.008 seconds, with Hamilton 0.253secs off the pace and complaining that there was “something not right with the car”.

Verstappen and Hamilton set their fastest times – as expected – on the soft tyre while Bottas was on mediums.

Alpine’s Fernando Alonso was fourth from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

The session raised many questions about the weekend to come as the teams were finding their cars behaved very differently across the different tyre compounds.

Bottas’ fastest time was set on the theoretically slower medium tyre as he failed to improve on the soft.

And while Verstappen found an extra second’s worth of lap time when he switched to the soft tyre, Hamilton improved by only 0.1secs.

The world champion, who trails Verstappen by four points in this year’s title chase, was struggling to match Bottas all day and his radio message to engineer Peter Bonnington mid-session suggested he felt something fundamental was wrong.

However, Hamilton was losing time on the straights compared to both Bottas and Verstappen, which suggests he was running in a lower power mode and could well account for the performance difference.

When the drivers ran their race-simulation runs on full fuel loads later in the session, Verstappen appeared to have a slight edge on Hamilton but the overall indications were that the two cars were closely matched.

Hamilton also appeared to be struggling when the drivers did their race simulation runs on full fuel loads later in the session, when he was also slower than Verstappen.

Bottas ran a different tyre strategy for his race runs so his times were not directly comparable to the other two.

It was the first time Mercedes had been outpaced in a practice session at the Paul Ricard track since it returned to the calendar in 2018. There was no French race last year as a result of the pandemic.

After the session, Hamilton said: “Quite a struggle this weekend. Probably for everyone.

“I don’t know if it’s the track surface or the track temperature, or these inflated tyres – they have put the pressures up higher than ever before, one of the highest, but we are all sliding around and it’s a struggle out there for everyone.”

Hamilton was referencing an increase in mandatory minimum tyre pressure imposed by supplier Pirelli following two tyre failures at the last race.

Pirelli have raised the level by 2psi over the figure they had intended before the failures in Baku.

In addition, there are more stringent checks on tyre pressures.

Another technical change this weekend is tougher rear-wing flexibility tests, after accusations that Red Bull and other teams have been running rear wings that flex back on straights in ways that contravene the intention of the rules.

The only cloud over Verstappen’s day was that he damaged his front wing running wide over the kerbs at Turn Two. That promoted Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley to ask whether the kerbs could be removed to avoid car damage and police track limits with an electronic timing loop.

Wheatley’s message echoed one from his opposite number at Mercedes, Ron Meadows, who asked the same after Bottas ran wide in the first session. Both pointed out that the damage was costing hundreds of thousands of pounds for a small indiscretion.

Race director Michael Masi pointed out that several team bosses had asked for physical track limits but said he would look at the issue before Saturday’s running.

Perhaps the most impressive day came from the Alpine team, for whom Esteban Ocon added sixth fastest time to Alonso’s fourth.

Leclerc, after a difficult morning for Ferrari, improved in the afternoon to split the Alpines, with Pierre Gasly’s Alpha Tauri in seventh, ahead of the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo and McLaren’s Lando Norris.

The Aston Martins of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll were down in 15th and 16th.

This weekend’s race takes place against the backdrop of two significant rule changes.

There are more stringent checks on both tyre pressures and rear wing strength after two controversies this year – the tyre failures suffered by Verstappen and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll at the last race in Azerbaijan, and accusations that Red Bull and other teams have been running rear wings that flex back on straights in ways that contravene the intention of the rules.

Japan’s Naomi Osaka will not play at Wimbledon this year but is planning to return in time for the Tokyo Olympics.

The four-time Grand Slam champion will spend time with friends and family having also withdrawn from the French Open in May.

At the time, Osaka, 23, said she would be taking a break from tennis after experiencing depression and anxiety.

The world number two says she is “excited to play in front of her home fans” in Tokyo.

Osaka was fined $15,000 (£10,570) for not taking part in a news conference following her first round match at Roland Garros.

Grand Slam organisers said she could face expulsion from the tournament should she refuse to take part in media duties.

But the player withdrew from the tournament the following day, saying she needed to “protect her mental health”.

“When the time is right I really want to work with the Tour to discuss ways we can make things better for the players, press and fans,” she added at the time.

Wimbledon’s chief executive Sally Bolton had earlier revealed the All England Club (AELTC) had been in contact with Osaka’s team and was actively looking at ways to improve its media operations.

“We have started a consultation,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.

“Of course, that consultation needs to include not just the players, but the media and all of those engaged in that space.”

Wimbledon tournament director Jamie Baker said on Wednesday that he had told Osaka’s entourage that the phone lines were always open to discuss any issues that might arise.

Another blow for SW19 – analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

A Wimbledon appearance by Naomi Osaka has seemed extremely unlikely ever since she withdrew from the French Open.

But what is very encouraging is that the 23-year-old feels able to represent her country at her home Olympics in just six weeks’ time.

The shorter-than-usual two-week gap between the French Open and Wimbledon may not have made any difference to Osaka’s decision, but has repercussions for others – most notably Rafael Nadal.

The 35-year-old ultimately had to choose between the two Grand Slams.

Roger Federer is one who will empathise. The 39-year-old withdrew from Roland Garros after three rounds to protect his knee, but also his chances of being truly competitive at Wimbledon.

The US Open is set to be the first Grand Slam to be played entirely in front of capacity crowds since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Wimbledon aims to have capacity crowds for the men’s and women’s finals – but will be at 50% capacity for the rest of the tournament.

The US Open takes place in August at Flushing Meadows in New York.

New York state has lifted most lockdown restrictions as over 70% of adults have received at least one does of vaccine.

United States Tennis Association chief executive Mike Dowse said: “While we were proud that we were able to hold the event in 2020, we missed having our fans on-site, because we know that they are a large part of what makes the US Open experience unlike any other.”

The 2020 Australian Open was the last Grand Slam to have 100% attendance throughout the tournament, weeks before the country shut its borders because of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Major League Baseball side the New York Mets have announced they will return to full capacity next week.

A sell-out crowd of 52,078 attended a baseball game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Tuesday night after restrictions were eased in California.

Los Angeles Clippers beat Utah Jazz 131-119 to secure a 4-2 series win and reach the NBA Western Conference finals for the first time.

Terance Mann scored a career-high 39 points for the Clippers, who trailed by 25 points in the third quarter.

“Everybody was telling me to shoot the ball and that’s what I did,” said Mann, who hit 15 of 21 shots from the floor and drained seven of 10 three pointers.

The Clippers will play Phoenix Suns for a place in the NBA finals.

Paul George scored 28 points and added nine rebounds and seven assists for the Clippers, who were without their top player Kawhi Leonard through injury.

“It feels great,” said George. “They wrote us off when Kawhi went down.”

In the Eastern Conference semi-finals Philadelphia 76ers earned a 104-99 win over Atlanta Hawks to level their best-of-seven series at 3-3.

Seth Curry and Tobias Harris scored 24 points apiece for the Sixers, while team-mate Joel Embiid registered 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

Atlanta reduced the gap to 100-97 with 14 seconds to go but Harris sank a pair of free throws as the Sixers held on for the win.

“You saw the fight and grit of a whole group,” said Harris.

The 76ers will be at home for the deciding game on Sunday.

Paris Saint Germain striker Neymar, the world’s most expensive footballer, will not play for Brazil at the Tokyo Olympics, but veteran Daniel Alves did make the squad announced on Thursday (June 17).

Neymar’s PSG teammate Marquinhos, who also landed a gold medal in Rio five years ago, is another name not on coach Andre Jardine’s list.

Former Barcelona star Alves, now with Sao Paulo, missed the ongoing Copa America owing to a knee injury.

Jardine is hoping his experienced defender will be fit in time to take on 2016 beaten finalists Germany on July 22.

Two French-based players who will compete in Japan are Bruno Guimaraes of Lyon and Marseille new signing Gerson.

The Nigerian government  has appointed former Super Eagles skipper, John Mikel  Obi  as Youth Ambassador. He is saddled with a duty to inspire young  Nigerian  to strive  for excellence.

The event took place at  the Nigeria Olympic Committee secretariat, National Stadium, Surulere Lagos on Friday.

Speaking at the event, Minister of  Youth and  Sports  Development  Sunday  Dare  described the former Chelsea legend as a role model whose lasting legacies in football development has continued to have positive impact on youths in the country.

The Minister promised to support Mikel’s vision and vision for sports development in the country and assured the Stoke City midfielder of Federal Government unalloyed support whenever he chooses to invest in the country.

” Time will not permit me to say much about Mikel’s success as a footballer. He is our legend and a role model who has continued to impact the  lives of youth positively.

” It is it my pleasure to appoint you as Nigeria Youth Ambassador. It’s a new portfolio and your role as youth ambassador will be made known to Nigerians,”  the Minister asserted.

In his response, Mikel expressed delight with his new portfolio and promised to work with the sports Ministry to foster youth development in the country.

” I feel highly honored to be appointed as Youth Ambassador of this country, it is a great feeling. I am happy with this partnership and I promise to do my best to encourage and inspire the youths towards national development not just in football but in other sports like basketball, boxing among others”, said Mikel.

The event  was  followed by a  tour of the National Stadium,  Surulere which is under going rehabilitation.

The  Minister stated that a lot of efforts had been put into the   rehabilitation of the stadium with much emphasis on the pitch, scoreboard, tartan tracks and  the spectators’ stand.  He stressed that the  Ministry had also partnered with a private organization to change the seat  of  the 45, 000 capacity Stadium  to a standard  one

” A lot has been put in place to ensure that  the stadium returns to what it used to be. The seats are no longer in line with FIFA standard, but we have partnered a private organization to have modern seats in place,” he concluded. 

Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has announced the state of emergency in Tokyo and eight prefectures will end as planned on June 20, nearly a month before the start of the Olympic Games.

Tokyo has been under state of emergency restrictions since April, which were introduced to help curb the spread of COVID-19

The measures were originally scheduled to expire at the end of May, but were extended until June 20 to help continue a downward trend of cases.

The Aichi, Fukuoka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Hokkaido, Hiroshima, Okayama, Osaka and Okinawa prefectures have also been under the restrictions.

The state of emergency measures will conclude as planned on Sunday (June 20) in all but one of the prefectures.

Okinawa will remain under tighter restrictions until July 11.

“The number of infected people nationwide has been declining since mid-May,” Suga said today.

“The number of seriously ill people nationwide has continued to decrease, and the condition of beds has been steadily improving.

“On the other hand, the number of infected people has increased in some areas.

“The decline has stopped, and the possibility of rebound has been pointed out.”

A series of measures will remain in place across the prefectures, which has been viewed as a “quasi-state of emergency”.

Suga said focus will be placed on measures around eating and drinking, with restaurants expected to close by 8pm.

Alcohol can be served until 7pm under the restrictions.

Local authorities are able to introduce stronger measures, should they be required.

These restrictions are due to be in place until at least July 11, less than two weeks before the Olympic Opening Ceremony on July 23.

“If the infection re-expands and there are signs of tight medical care, it is possible to flexibly include strengthening countermeasures,” Suga said.

“We will take measures to prevent such infections and promote vaccination.

“It is expected to exceed 40 million [vaccinations] at the end of this month, and in all cities, towns and villages, the desired elderly people at the end of July.

“We have received reports that it is expected that two doses of inoculation will be completed.

“We request that each Minister work with all possible efforts on infection control measures and vaccination in cooperation with relevant ministries and agencies.”

The number of new COVID-19 cases has steadily declined in Japan since a peak last month, with May 12 seeing over 7,500 reported.

By contrast, 1,717 new cases were reported yesterday across Japan, with the seven day average standing at 1,626.

Japan has administered 27.6 million vaccine doses to date, with 18 million given to the elderly and 9.5 million for medical personnel.

Over seven million people are fully vaccinated in Japan, representing less than six per cent of the population.

The country is hoping to achieve a target of administering over one million doses per day, with a record high of over 912,000 reportedly given on June 9.

The end of the official state of emergency could boost the chance of domestic spectators being permitted to attend Tokyo 2020 competitions, with the Japanese Government introducing a cap of 10,000 or half the capacity for sporting events.

A decision on whether domestic spectators could be able to attend Tokyo 2020 is due to be made at the end of the month.

Foreign fans have already been banned.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are due to take place until August 8, with the Paralympics following from August 24 to September 5.

Germany got their Euro 2020 campaign back on track – and blew Group F wide open – with a 4-2 romp against Portugal in Munich on Saturday (June 19).

France’s 1-1 draw with Hungary earlier in Budapest and Germany’s win mean there is all to play for in Wednesday’s final group games when the Germans host Hungary and the French meet holders Portugal.

“Overall, it was a great performance: great attitude and great morale,” said Germany coach Joachim Loew. “We rightly won by that amount and created many chances.”

After Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his 107th international goal, leaving him two short of Ali Daei’s all-time record, to give Portugal an early lead, the Germans roared back with four unanswered goals.

German pressure forced own goals by Ruben Dias and Raphael Guerreiro to put the hosts 2-1 up at half-time.

A Kai Havertz goal underlined Germany’s dominance before left-back Robin Gosens capped his man-of-the-match display by heading in Germany’s fourth to add to his two assists.

Portugal hit back when Diogo Jota tapped in Ronaldo’s hooked volley to make it 4-2 with 23 minutes left.

Germany continued their domination of Portugal, who they have now beaten five consecutive times at World Cup or European Championship finals since Euro 2000.

“Germany were the better team and I take responsibility for this (defeat), but whether we progress now is up to us and how we respond,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos.

Germany created a huge amount of chances compared to Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat by France, while Portugal lacked the composure of their 3-0 win over Hungary the same day.

The match began at a frantic pace amid sweltering conditions in the Bavarian capital.

The Germans had a goal disallowed after five minutes when VAR spotted Serge Gnabry was offside as Gosens hit a spectacular volley.

However, sloppy Germany defending saw Portugal take the lead.

With only Gosens and Havertz defending at a German corner, Bernardo Silva started a counter-attack, then picked out Jota in the area with a world-class pass.

The Liverpool forward squared to Ronaldo, who sprinted into the box to slot the ball past Germany captain Manuel Neuer with less than 15 minutes gone.

It was Ronaldo’s first goal against Germany to extend his record tally to 12 goals at five European Championship finals.

However, two own goals inside four minutes turned the game.

Germany drew level when another Gosens volley was flicked towards the net by Havertz, with Dias getting the final touch as the ball flew past Rui Patricio on 35 minutes.

The second goal soon followed when Guerreiro turned Kimmich’s cross into his own net while trying to stop the ball reaching the on-rushing German forwards.

Gosens caused Portugal problems all afternoon on the left flank.

His low cross was tapped in by Havertz six minutes after the break.

The Atalanta player then capped a superb display by powering in a close-range header from Kimmich’s cross on the hour mark.

German fans sang their approval, with “Oh, wie ist das schoen” (oh, is that beautiful) echoing around the Allianz Arena.

Gosens was substituted soon after with his name being chanted.

Portugal pulled a goal back when Guerreiro’s free-kick was hooked back by Ronaldo and turned in by Jota.

Germany nearly claimed a late fifth goal when Havertz’s replacement Leon Goretzka fired over after another surging attack by the hosts.

This is the first time Portugal have conceded four goals since losing 4-0 to Germany at the 2014 World Cup.